Xerophyte

Habit

Solitary ball cactus to 25 cm in diameter.

Central Spines

Stouter up to 20-mm long, subulated, brown-reddish, grayish when old.

Description

The monstrous form (described in this page) differs from the standard plant only for the ribs that are often fused and strangely tangled among themselves and with either normal and irregularly dome shaped spineless tubercles. The mutate traits are transmissible to the offspring.The standard Notocactus roseoluteusSN|20460]]SN|20030]] is is a large growing plant, usually solitary or slowly branching from the base with beautiful flowers.

Flowers

Apical, particularly large, bell-shaped, glossy, pink in shades of salmon with yellow centres, up to 8 cm in diameter.

Blooming Season

July through September.

Ribs

About 18-22 well defined and spiraling with prominent, rounded tubercles with chinlike protrusion.

Stem

Spherical-flattened that can became shortly cylindrical when old, with a shiny coppery-green with a depressed crown covered in white wool.

Radial Spines

8-11 thin, flexible and acicular, needlelike, usually less than 10 mm long. whitish with a brownish-red tip.

Fruits

Globose, elongating at maturity, thin walled.

Areoles

Deeply seated within a depression between the chins, woolly that become bare when older.